Teachers must run summer schools to help pupils catch-up on work missed during lockdown, urges Children’s Commissioner as primary students return in England today
- Millions of pupils in Year 1, Year 6 and Reception returned to school on Monday
- Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield called for summer schools to be set up
- These would help pupils catch up on work missed since schools shut in March
- Schools may benefit from a ‘catch-up premium’ to fund these new initiatives
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Children’s commissioner Anne Longfield has called for pupils to be offered summer schools to help them catch up on their education.
Across the UK, pupils in Year 1, Year 6 and Reception returned to their classrooms today for the first time since March following the enforced closure of schools due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Ministers are now said to be considering leaving schools open over summer to help disadvantaged children cover missed work, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield wants to see summer schools set up to help pupils
Children across the UK returned to their classrooms on Monday as schools began to reopen
Writing in the newspaper, Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner, said: ‘Based in school buildings and running throughout the holidays, summer schools could provide activities of all kinds, meals and potentially some learning too.
‘The idea is also likely to be popular with parents, who however well-intentioned and motivated may need a break from home schooling and may also be in desperate need of childcare as they return to work.’
Ms Longfield was appointed Children’s Commissioner in 2015, with the role aimed at bringing about long term change and improvements for all children.
Since taking up the post, Ms Longfield has championed several campaigns and schemes focused on children’s mental health, vulnerable children and the digital world.
St Michael in The Hamlet Community Primary School in Liverpool has reopened but only to the vulnerable and the children of key workers
Downing Street said the Government was looking at the support available for children over the summer months following calls for pupils in England to be offered catch-up classes.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘The Education Secretary has set out his commitment to doing everything he can to make sure young people are not losing out as a result of coronavirus.
‘We are looking at what additional measures may be required to ensure every child has the support they need, including over the summer.’